Chapter Text
Two days after Christmas Eve, the weather changed drastically.
A white mass came down over night.
Shota was glad, that Hizashi had exaggerated with grocery shopping before the holidays, that meant nobody had to go out and deal with the potential chaos the sudden snow probably would cause on the streets.
Meanwhile, Izuku and Katsuki seemed highly fascinated by the snow. After breakfast, Hizashi found both kids basically glued to the window in the living room staring outside at the snowy outdoors. They clearly wanted to go outside.
Sometimes it made Hizashi nearly dizzy how much the kids had changed since Shota had brought them home. Still, new things were considered skeptic. Routines worked best, but the kids got more and more brave every day, which was why now they were heavily thinking about how to get out there and play in the snow.
The kids had been pretty clear about leaving the house. Trips to UA were alright, because they were excited to go there, but going somewhere else? Nope. Not even Keigo could convince them to come visit him, but the teen didn’t really mind anyway, he liked coming over to their house.
“Little Listeners, if you want you can go outside, the door will stay unlocked, you can come back in any time,” the Voice Hero eventually said. “You should wrap yourself warmly, though, it’s cold, but the snow’s surely is fun.”
Katsuki scowled at him. Izuku looked shyly away.
Fifteen minutes later two bundled up children carefully left the house. This was the first time, the boys left the house on their own, without the adults to take them to UA. They were nervous, even though they would stay nearby the house, not leaving the garden.
The house was in a somewhat quiet neighborhood, but not too far from the city center. To the house belonged a small garden, just a grassy area, which was just kept more or less neatly. In the past it had mainly served as space for small garden parties or just to enjoy good weather. However, there was enough space for the kids to run around.
Hizashi and Shota settled in the kitchen to watch the kids through the window without being too conspicuous.
Still a bit hesitating the kids looked around, they were talking but even if the window would have been open, only Katsuki probably spoke loud enough to be heard.
They watched how Katsuki began to beeline for the maple tree, the only point of interest in the garden, when suddenly a snowball hit him straight on the back of his head.
The heroes flinched just like Katsuki, who whipped around to find Izuku, his right arm still up in a pose that strongly indicated that he had just thrown something.
Katsuki definitely yelled something before charging at Izuku. And the green-haired laughed. Hizashi melted at the sight and leaned onto his husband.
Izuku was tackled down by Katsuki, who immediately began to rub snow at the freckled face. The smaller boy managed to put a good bunch off snow down Katsuki neck that slid down in his collar. Katsuki shrieked at the sensation and let go of Izuku, letting him scramble away. They chased each other through the yard and threw countless snowballs.
“They look so happy,” Hizashi commented, and Shota hummed affirmative. The kids were now busy building snowmen or just rolling big spheres of snow. And maybe the adults should worry, because as soon as the snowy creations were finished, Katsuki exploded them. And both kids were highly entertained by that.
The kids spent around two hours playing in the snow. As promised, the door remained unlocked the whole time. When they came back inside, they stood in the hallway, clearly exhausted but happy. Their clothes featured wet spots where the snow had started to melt and their hair was damp, as well. Izuku had lost his bobble hat and Katsuki was missing his gloves. Shota made a mental note to look for the missing clothes later.
“Did you have fun?” he asked while helping Izuku untangle from his jacket.
“Tsk, maybe,” Katsuki replied and frowned at his scarf. Of course, it was the scarf he got from Izuku for Christmas. He was facing a small dilemma, he wanted to keep wearing it, like he always did, but after being outside it was wet from the snow as well.
“Katsuki, I can put the scarf in the dryer, it’ll be dry in no time,” Shota offered. Reluctantly, Katsuki took off his scarf and handed it to Shota with an annoyed huff. The adult suppressed a smile. With every day, the kids were more themselves. Izuku didn’t panic anymore, when he got lost in his thoughts and Shota or Hizashi had to call him multiple times to get his attention and Katsuki’s abrasive behavior was now more part of his character than a reaction caused by being scared. Actually, Shota liked when Katsuki snapped or cursed at one of them, because it seemed like the ultimate proof that the boy was feeling safe and not afraid of them.
Just like promised, he quickly put Katsuki’s scarf in the dryer and set the speed program. When he got back to the living room, he found the kids snuggling up on the sofa. They fell asleep before the dryer was done. Shota just placed the scarf on the coffee table, so Katsuki would see it as soon as he woke up.
In the afternoon the boys roped in Hizashi for a board game and while the weather worsened. Light snowfall had turned into a heavy storm. The weather scared both kids. Hizashi made sure that the outer shutters were closed und pulled the curtains close. They played round after round, of course Katsuki and Izuku won every time, totally fair and square and not because Hizashi only smiled when Katsuki came up with new rules and exceptions as soon as he or – God forbid – Izuku was losing. Even though Shota wasn’t entirely convinced that Izuku really didn’t know that the small sad pout, his trembling lower lip and the saddest eyes known to humanity were basically manipulating both blondes. And when Izuku won another round, Shota swore he saw a small smug grin. That cheeky rascal!
It happened the exact moment when everybody was scattered around the house. Shota was in the living room and just turned on the TV for the evening news, Hizashi was putting the game back into the kids’ room, Katsuki went to use the bathroom and Izuku was in the kitchen to get something to drink. Suddenly, everything went dark.
The TV died during the news show intro and every light went out.